Overdue upbeat posting…
Whew… today certainly was a strange day. It started as a day that seemed to be going down in flames. I started by downloading the Ricky Gervais podcasts, or rather finding they had all downloaded while I’d been sleeping, so I figured, why not give one a listen over breakfast? Then, I got addicted. I listened to like 10 half-hour episodes in a row.
Finally drag myself to the gym, listening to Gervais the whole time there, as well. When I come home, I pop on some Gervais video, too. I’d had it downloaded for months, but for some reason, today was Gervais day and it could not be contained or restrained. I just find him to have an uncontrollable joy that is infectious. The subtext of listening to him was that I needed to figure out how to be that jazzed about my book.
He is pure fun. Someday, I must meet him.
So, in the middle of Gervaismania, I start hunting down the Dan Brown Witness Statement from the Da Vinci Code Plagiarism Trial in the UK. Never read the book, not all that interested, but I have some strange fixation about reading this. So, I find it, bring it up on-screen, pause gervais in mid-episode(?!) and read it.
And it is LONG, like 65 pages of him documenting all the arcania about and research methods for the book, which I now have even less desire to read than before. One thing does stand out, though, and that is even with the backdrop of such a "serious" book, he’s still having a lot of fun, a lot of anagrammed names, friends’ names, word puzzles, etc. Not sure why I keep reinforcing that I should be having more fun in my writing, especially since it is a known quantity and you can’t force yourself to have fun, and I do know this, but what to do about it?
OK, another thing that stands out. So, his wife does a lot of the research for the book, and gives him a lot of the historic background information, facts and figures, all of this great stuff. And, a lot of the time, he can’t use it, because it gets in the way of his writing a "page-turner" for an audience. Now, I’m a populist guy. I am trying to create something with merit and all that, but I am also writing a book that I hope people will read. I never get the whole notion of writing for an audience of one. I mean… I already know the point of the book. If I’m the intended audience, let’s call it a wrap and hit the dance clubs this weekend already.
Page-turner sticks in my craw every time he mentions it, because I know my book suffers from a lack of this at present. As much as I love what’s happening, nothing seems compelling enough to propel the reader through the narrative.
So, to recap, I spend way too much time vegging out (and working out) to Ricky Gervais. Then, I read about how Dan Brown researched The Da Vinci Code. I’m like 10 hours into my day at this point, not a stictch of work on my own book. Off to quite a rollicking start, eh?
The next thing seems to come from nowhere, but I never even question following through with it. I write an outline of my novel.
Both of my readers here know that this has been a long-time complaint of mine, that I have identified myself as someone who likes the idea of an outline, but yet I am plodding away guideless at present. Seems an easy fix, yeah? Need an outline, perhaps write one? Normally not as easy as all that, but let’s face it. I know the book pretty well at this point.
So, I spend the next eight hours or so writing an outline, except it doesn’t just outline what I’ve written, but has a new framing device that adds urgency (page-turner!) and builds to something that makes the whole project fun for me (Thanks, Ricky!).
Somehow in the process, I write a 55-chapter (plus eplilogue) outline, based on my 27-chapter draft. That should seem spooky and a bit mental, but somehow it all makes sense AND doesn’t require nearly as much work as it seems it should.
In fact, had I not spent 8+ hours doing that outline work, I’d probably be working on the book right now. I’m a bit shredded on it all right now, though.
Needless to say, I think the book is finally in the home stretch. I love everything about it now. Everything makes sense now. Editing with a trajectory and goal makes it all easier.
I see the end in sight!
Bring it on!
